D E A T H

For many, death is a morbid topic. It evokes bad images and sad thoughts. Some others actually see poetry in death! For instance, Walt Whitman did write that ‘Nothing can happen more beautiful than death’.

‘It has been claimed that one can never look directly at the sun or at one’s own death. And yet, throughout your history of mankind, both have been the enduring themes of myth and religion, science and magic, curiosity and fear. At this point in time we find that as the sun is understood as being the source of life in the natural order of your world, so death is becoming recognized as the central dynamism underlying the life, vitality, and structure of the social order in which you find yourself.’ (Quoted from http://www.whatisdeath.com/)

Death, a moment you can approach but never reach, simply because it is impossible. (I don’t know who said this but I find it befitting).

General belief is that a happy and healthy person will not think of death or dying. Contrary to this belief is Angelina Jolie's. She once said “If I think more about death than some other people, it is probably because I love life more than they do.”

Death, 'the great Unknown', 'the gravest of all misfortunes', has also been called by Freud 'the aim of all life', something we should all be consciously aware of.

When we say we are afraid of death, according to Freud, we may fear something else - such as abandonment, castration, various unresolved conflicts, or otherwise fear of death may be the outcome of a sense of guilt. Yet Freud also specifies that fear of death 'dominates us oftener than we know'. The beliefs in previous lives, transmigration of souls, reincarnation are products of the denial of death according to Freud.

Understanding death is beyond my ken as my knowledge is very limited. Moreover, I do not have any intention of understanding death; let it come when it has to! Death is something everyone would go through but no one would like to talk about. I am not a pessimistic or a frustrated person. On the contrary I am fun loving, I enjoy life and I laugh a lot. But something goes through my mind, which I am unable to articulate here, whenever I hear some news of death. Death is still a mystery, at least to an ordinary person like me!

Officially last week I had the opportunity of visiting Varanasi. I have already visited this place many years ago to perform the last rites of my father. At that time my purpose of visiting Varanasi was singular – performing the last rites of my father. But this time was different. I had two evenings free, while I was at Varanasi. I went out with my Nikon, as I know the place offers a lot of photo opportunities.

I took many of pictures of Varanasi- its life, cows in the narrow lane, devotees worshiping God, sun setting /rising over the Ganges, boats on the Ganges and many other things that attracted me. On my way I saw dead bodies being carried away for cremation to the banks of the River Ganges. For all those dead bodies the destination was Manikarnika Ghat on the banks of the river Ganges. Yes, it is the place where millions of bodies were cremated for centuries and millions more will be cremated in future. Smoky haze hangs over Manikarnika Ghat all the time!

For long I wanted to witness a cremation from start to finish (Morbid curiosity in me?), which finally I could in Varanasi. What other place can offer this, better than Varanasi? For Hindus, Varanasi is the place to die. For they believe, dying in Varanasi guarantees liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The bodies of the dead are cremated on the ghats (steps on the banks of Ganges) and the ashes are scattered into the Ganges. Similar belief does exist among Muslims and Christians. For Muslims it is Karbala, in Iraq and for Christians it is Jerusalem, in Israel.

Hinduism believes in rebirth and reincarnation of souls -The soul is immortal and imperishable while the body is perishable. When death occurs the soul leaves the body and what remains is a corpse. Very similar to what Jean Paul Sartre says – ‘with death, consciousness ceases to be, leaving only a corpse.’ (I am not sure if consciousness and soul can be equated!)

Strangely enough, when I witnessed the cremation, I was not disturbed or perturbed or afraid. I do not know why. Probably, the general atmosphere of Varanasi? In Varanasi death is everywhere! Yet people are as normal as you would see in any other city. Familiarity? May be yes!

Cremation is the ultimate end of life. Materialistically speaking after cremation you cannot see the person any more. The dead only remain in our memory. Marcus Tullius Cicero said, “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” Literally this is the end! Sitting silently all alone with only my camera, for company, I watched many bodies being taken down to the riverside crematorium at Manikarnika Ghat, bodies of men wrapped in white and bodies of women in red.

At Manikarnika Ghat, I fixed myself to one such dead body which had just arrived. The family found a spot down by the river where they would cremate the body they had brought. Then the funeral processes were carried out, including immersing the shrouded figure in the holy Ganges, before it was to be set on fire. (Hindus believe that washing the body in Ganges is not a matter of hygiene; it’s a symbolic action of purifying the flesh and freeing it of all sins.) It was then carried up, the orange and gold wrapper removed and then with the body shrouded in a white cloth (Final dress?); it was then placed on top of logs of wood. A small ceremony was then done, some special dried grass was lit and, a male member (probably the son of the deceased) encircled the body a few times with the lit grass. Afterwards the fire was lit from below with the grass, and the cremation began. Only male members were present at the cremation. (Hindus believe that the actual moment of death occurs when the body is in flames!)

It is interesting and very strange to note here in Varanasi that during the entire ceremony of cremation, the atmosphere was not tense as at funerals in other places. Nor was the atmosphere lacking in reverence. It was totally different and I am unable to describe that. Probably the relatives were thinking that they have given the diseased a cremation in the holiest of cities and they were having mixed feelings of (I don’t know how to express it!) and grief! My own feelings were of wonder and respect for the diseased person. All along I had a sense of detachment since I did not actually know the deceased or their family. I was a silent spectator (I am not sure if I can use this word) from a distance.

As the funeral pyre started to burn and time passed, I saw many things which I am not in a mood to write. That was mind shattering! I understood the meaning of “Familiarity breeds contempt”. It took a whole two hours for the fire to consume the body. After the completion of the burning, the relatives came and picked some bones of the diseased and ashes and dispersed. Normally the ashes are scattered at a holy place or a river. The significance of this – the body is returned to earth, water and air, the elements of life!

That was a wired experience for me and I had actually prepared myself for THE occasion for the past two months. (My trip to Varanasi was cancelled twice!) Varanasi is a mysterious and special place. Here people live everyday with Death and dead bodies. Death is common here and attitudinally everyone seems to be accepting this. Although death is common in every place in the world, still it is viewed differently in Varanasi. Since cremation is being done on a large scale, 24 X 7, 365 days here at Varanasi, its people have become more insensitive to death or more sensitive? I do not know what!

But the fact cannot be denied that Varanasi is a place one should visit to feel the atmosphere prevailing there. It is a different world by itself!!! (Although my friend will not agree with me as she calls it a place of infection and dirt!)

Of late I am spending a lot of time with – I, Me & Myself (I borrowed this phrase from my daughter!) Understandably, I guess, I am indulging in some out of the ordinary thoughts, the result of which is this blog post! Ha Ha!)

Post script: All the pictures posted here were taken by me with highest reverence and respect. They are very valuable to me. Please do not use any of my pictures for anything less worthy of.